Barbara Nessim (b. 1939, Bronx, NY) is an artist recognised as a pioneer in early computer art. She was among the first to explore the creative potential of computers and extensively used them as an artistic tool at the dawn of the computer age in the early 1980s. Nessim’s role as one of the few women whose illustration entered American editorial arts in the 1960s, breaking the glass ceiling for generations of women who followed, is equally inspiring. Her daring and prolific work, spanning six decades, defies narrow categorisation. As a fearless groundbreaker in the worlds of technology, design, and gender, Nessim has never ceased to push boundaries.
Nessim’s early computer works from the 1980s will be shown in her solo show, The Past Is My Present, at RCM Galerie in Paris from September 26 to November 5, 2024. This show will feature two series from Nessim, Computer Heads and Digital Drawing. Computer Heads was created on the Norpak IPS-2 Telidon computer systems during Nessim’s artist residency at TIME Video Information Services department from 1982 to 1983. These works were later printed on Cibachromes, a large film format discontinued in 2012. Digital Drawings were created on Nessim’s Mac Plus Computer from 1985 to 1988. Produced when digital colour printing was impossible, these inventive drawings were printed in black and white on archival paper and then manually coloured with pastel.
Today, generative digital processes are accepted as painterly in their own right, as sophisticated tools to unpack human relationships with intelligent machinery. Barbara Nessim is a trailblazer who has paved the way for generations of artists who are curious about what the computer says about art and themselves.
In recognition of Nessim’s impact on digital art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) acquired two of Nessim’s early digital artworks for their permanent collection. These will be exhibited in their group show Digital Witness: Revolutions in Design, Photography, and Film from November 2024 to July 2025. Nessim’s survey solo show will be exhibited at DePaul Art Museum from March to August 2026. Nessim has also shown other institutions, such as the Louvre, The Whitney Museum, The Cooper Hewitt Museum, The Smithsonian Institute, and The Norman Rockwell Museum. Notable solo exhibitions include London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (2013), Bard Graduate Center Gallery (2015), Malin Gallery (2021), and Derek Eller Gallery (2023).
Her work has graced the covers of Time, Rolling Stone, Ms Magazine and The New York Times Magazine, among others. Nessim’s honours, including the Pratt Lifetime Achievement Award (2015) and induction into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame (2020), are a testament to her significant contributions to the art world.
Selected Press
Hyperallergic, “50 Years Ago, She Broke Illustration’sIllustration’s Glass Ceiling” by Rhea Nayyar, 2023
Matt Sephton’sSephton’s blog, “Early Computer Works by Barbara Nessim,” 2023New York Times, “Illustrating Her Narrative” by Carol Kino, 2013The Atlantic, “50 Years of Reinventing Illustration” by Steven Heller, 2014
Barbara Nessim My Past Is My Present Early Computer Works 26 September – 5 November RCM Gallery Paris
Barbara Nessim Digital Witness Revolution in Design, Photography and Film LACMA 24 November 2024 – 13 July 2025